Trump Kept Out Of Control Room During US Airmen's Rescue Op In Iran: Report

US President Donald Trump seems to have lost his appetite for war as the two-week ceasefire with Iran nears an end. He is oscillating between ominous and propitiatory approaches while asking Iran to make a permanent peace deal. Behind the scenes, he's grappling with fear that the situation can turn into something similar to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis --one of the biggest foreign policy failures of recent times, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

Trump's impulsive style has never before been tested during a sustained military conflict, and according to the report, his top aides are limiting the flow of information to him because they believe his impatience would bring more harm to the operations. The president is also reportedly losing focus on the war, telling advisers he wants to shift to other topics. 

ALSO READ: 1 War, 3 Bills: UAE's Bailout, Iran's $270 Billion, Trump's Off-Ramp Search 

'Kept Out Of Control Room'

In March, when Trump got to know about the downing of a US F-15 by Iranian forces, he reportedly lost his temper and screamed at his aides for hours. "If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter...with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost them the election," he told officials, according to a WSJ report. 

Trump demanded that the US military get the two crew members out of Iran immediately. But the US hadn't been on the ground in Iran since the government overthrow that led to the hostage crisis, and they needed to figure out how to get into treacherous Iranian terrain, avoiding Tehran's own military. 

ALSO READ: Ceasefire Violations, Demands: Why Iran Rejected 2nd Round Of Talks With US

During this stressful time, "aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn't be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments," a senior administration official told WSJ.

An official who was part of the situation room claimed, "Images of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis--one of the biggest international policy failures of a presidency in recent times--had been looming large in his mind."

ALSO READ: Ceasefire Violations, Demands: Why Iran Rejected 2nd Round Of Talks With US

Trump's Fears

Despite his mega threats of "obliterating" Iran and taking over Kharg Island, Trump is reportedly scared about ordering troops into harm's way. People familiar with the matter said the president fears soldiers will get injured and some will not return home, similar to the times of other presidents who have been at war.

Still, he has made risky pronouncements "without input from his national security team" – including his post about plans to destroy the Iranian civilisation. But his top aides see the move as a way to spur negotiations in a war the president was desperately ready to end.

Trump also believes that seeming unstable and insulting could help spur the Iranians to negotiate. He told one of his aides that Iranians only understand the language of fear and insult.

The president is also keeping close score on the war, measuring how many Iranian targets have been destroyed as a key metric of success, officials said.